all right. stick them up, buddy, let's go. >> bret: maybe crime ain't your thing. give up the crime. you can follow me on twitter at bret underscore baier. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report." >> shepard: there is breaking news now as fox reports live from tokyo. a fire has erupted and it is in a critical spot at reactor number 4 at the fukushima nuclear plant about 180 miles to the north of where i am standing. here is the situation. yesterday a fire broke out there. inside this particular reactor number 4, it's inside a building but it's outside the major containment area. because this particular reactor was off line when the tsunami came after the earthquake. inside this particular reactor are fuel rods, both plutonium

and uranium. they have been sitting in what amounts to a swimming pool for a nuclear fuel rods. as long as the water is in there and the temperature is maintained, the rods won't cause any problems. the fear is in this case that this time yesterday the water goes so low that these two created a fire. that con k. send out radiation and nuclear materials into the air. so, they thought they put it out. just about 45 minutes ago, we learned from the nuclear regulatory agency here that they did not put it out. in fact, it is still burning. now they are trying to figure out exactly what to do to put it out. the concern about this reactor number 4 is this: the other reactors we have been talking about have this extra containment core on the outside. so, basically, whatever happens inside it will be contained in this enormous metal and concrete containment core. this particular on doe not ve thi d ese rs are outside a containmtrea. they are burden of proving now. the first thought was bring in helicopters to try to put water

situation at the fukushima nuclear plant, which has already been so extreme, could go up considerably. there are newly released images given of the area where this has happened on the ground. here, take a look. this is what the reactor looked like just after last week's earthquake and tsunami. and here's what they look like two days later. walls and roofs shredded and steam or smoke drifting into the air. people at the scene have reported explosions at four of the plants' six reactors thus far. some 30 miles away from the plant, teams are testing people for radiation exposure. we are told doctors have already treated at least 23 people for one form or another of contamination. china has become the first government to organize a mass evacuation of its own citizens. a lot of people are now leaving on their own.

>> from the scare of the nuclear power plant. we're going to take a precautionary measure and get a little bit further away from that area. >> shepard: amidst all of, this strong after shock are stittle rattling the northern part of the country. again, today there were a number of quakes which we could feel here in the tokyo area. one that happened about 87 miles to the east-southeast of us. it registered 5.7. we could feel it. in the end, it didn't cause any damage and probably a lot of people in tokyo didn't make too much of it. but it was one of more than 500 after shocks from this thing. and more than 20 have been higher than 6 on the scale. so, where are we now?

right now we're in a very serious situation to the north and east. it's been going on for just about 45 minutes. they now realize a fire has either reignited or has continued to burn since yesterday in the northeast corner of reactor number 4. and, again, the significance of that is there fuel rods are exposed, the atomic matter can come into the air and that could cause enormous problem for anyone downwind. so let's get to team fox coverage as the news breaks here in japan. we have reporters in new york, los angeles, at the white house, and here. let's begin with adam housley who is streaming live in tokyo. adam, you are monitoring more of this situation at this nuclear plant. that reactor number four is one of the ones of greatest concern. >> absolutely, shepard. in fact, the japanese government has just come out with an alert in the last five minutes saying that explosion fire in the fourth reactor today was caused because the fire that was burning yesterday was not

extinguished. they also said earlier today that some more cracks have been found in some of the rack tores all at the fukushima plant. this is one of the english language newspapers here in japan. it has them all lined up. reactor one, reactor two, reactor three, reactor four. all four of them continue to suffer problems. shepard? >> shepard: do we know where we go from here? you know, the japanese government has instituted this no-fly zone around the plant, adam. i understand the basics of it. is it just too dangerous for the helicopters to get up there to try to put this fire out? particularly if the helicopters can't go up there to drop the water, how are they going to get water in there? >> yeah, that's a fantastic question. it is too dangerous. they are actually going to expand it again i'm told. that is one of the other reports i am told. they have already expanded that no-fly zone twice before it will be the third time they expand it to a further stance away. the area is contaminated. this area they don't know what

it's going to happen if a bigger explosion is going to take place. they don't want any aircraft in there except for the absolutely essential aircraft if any at all. the latest plan is to simply put men in there in fire trucks and pump sea water and other water they can get on to the fire to try to put it out. >> shepard: you were up at the southern end of the disaster zone over the last few days. given the roads and the -- is it possible to evacuate from there? are people finding it easier as the days go past? >> you know, shepard, we were talking about this as we were driving back. we took the most direct route back from where we were located about 80 miles from tokyo. supposed to be the best roads back to the main city here. there are a number of cities you pass through. some couple hundred thousand. some as small as 2,000. everyone is still there these roads are two lanes in most cases going through towns. some go down to one lane because they are buckled or fallen off because of the earthquake. if there is a major evacuation, shepard, to our north, it is going to be absolute gridlock because most people are still

there. and that could cause an even difficult situation, make it that much more difficult. >> shepard: back to the breaking news of the moment, adam, yesterday, when reactor number 4, in the northeast corner of these containment pools, when that caught fire yesterday, radiation levels were seen to be 10 times higher than normal. then they went down after a few hours. now that fire is up and burning again. what we are led to believe, what we are led to believe to be the exact same spot. what does this mean about radiation levels in the hours ahead as we have just here early in the morning? >> we have been looking at that for a couple of days not only because we want to report the correct information but also because we're in there covering it. and what we have been told is. this first of all, it's all about the wind direction. right now the wind is blowing out towards sea. that is great yesterday for a while it blew towards tokyo. that is not as good as you might imagine because it blows any contamination down in this direction. it dissipates also, shepard, radiation does by distance. as one nuclear scientist told

me, the further away you get, adam, the better you get. now, we're told that in some cases closer to the reactor, much closer than where we are, you are getting 1/10th of the normal amount you get in a day. that's basically 1/10th of an x-ray. not just one shot, shepard, that's continuous. that's where the worry becomes. the closer you get to the reactor, the longer you are in front of this nuclear material, basically, the worse it is. so the best thing you can do and cut down your threat by 60% by just staying inside and keeping the doors closed. >> shepard: adam housley live here in tokyo. we will go back to him for breaking updates on the situation at reactor number 4. meantime, let's put this into context for you. tim tremendous van trevan former weapons inspector. reactor number 4 as we have described, help us understand what this means. how to contain it and this means for what it means for potential for radiation release? >> as you have been hearing, two

sets of nuclear material that we have to worry about. the nuclear material inside the reactors and the nuclear waste material which is in the cooling pool. this fire is in the cooling pool which you said already is not inside the containment structure which can deal with pressure and with shielding radiation. so the fear if this fire continues and continues to spew up a cloud of steam, that steam will contain particulate matter of items like eye -- iodine and -- these are materials which are highly radioactive. and so will be a continuing source of radio activity once they are deposited away from the site. and they will be contaminated the land around it the one thing to look for if they cannot get this fire under control by getting water on it, is to see

how high up this steam cloud goes. because the higher it goes up, the further distance the radio activity -- the radioactive material might be carried. i think it's going to be very careful to monitor. >> shepard: i didn't mean to interrupt, tim, you know we have this hideous delay. to that end if we can get somebody from the weather center up. we know there are two sets of prevailing winds. one is at the lower level. it's been a very windy day today. in fact, it's morning now. it's like 8:00. 8:15 in the morning. we are waiting for a storm to come. the weather forecasters here have promised that there will be a storm. higher winds than normal on the northeast coast there is a another level ofin u hhe inhe atmosere. i knowhayou a sayg theurce levelin a not ryigant'ab t re ntho uerev striurntitou te the radiation much farther and in fact many more people. tim, here is what i want to get toith you yeery, this fe burd yesterday. and tokyo electric pow company

or tepko told everyone that they had the fire out. then it started again today. and what tepko is trying to convince us now is that it started today because they never actually but the it out yesterday. that would mean it's been burning all along. or that the water levels have dropped so far they can't get enough water in there that it's exposed. either one of those is a horrible situation. >> yes. my understanding is that the temperature by this cooling pool is so high that they can't -- they literally can't just walk up to it and put a hose on the top and put water. in it's just too hot it could be either situation it could be that they actually did get the temperature down so that they thought the fire was out yesterday. because the radioactive material is producing so much heat itself just through its radioactive decay it could have reignited. this is an issue, i think, where they have to continuously being putting water in there, to keep the temperature of the water down because these rods are

generating so much heat. >> shepard: tim trevan who will remain on stand by for us throughout the hour because of the very serious situation. you might be asking if they know it needs water on it, why don't they put water on it. imagine this, you are in the middle of a world with no water no, electricity, no food, no fuel. a tsunami has come through, a large part of your area, and eliminated thousands upon thousands of people. there are many tens and thousands of more who are now homeless and waiting for the snow to begin to fall, and many hundreds or thousands more who are trapped beneath rubble five days after an earthquake and a tsunami that followed and a nuclear disaster that followed that. the people of japan are in a enormous straits right now. if they can't get the pumps in to put the water on that particular reactor number 4, we are in a world of hurt ahead. officials have now confirmed at least 3300 people are dead so far.

this is not a flooded neighborhood. this house isagan aircraft carrd that home two days after the tsunami apparently carried it out to sea. and colonel from the navy told me today this is not an anomaly. it's the sort of thing they are seeing miles off the coast. debris fields that used to be neighborhoods and people. it continues for people who may be trapped under collapsed buildings and just waiting for help. >> we're working in combination with the united states and with china. the idea is to slowly progress through all the buildings and vehicles to make sure there is no persons missing. >> shepard: urban search and rescue teams from around the world joining forces to try to find survivors. we'll look at the rescue effort, the dangers, and the moments of victory. th's coming up. a chore no more!

you gotta come see what's new. c'mon! tadaaa! welcome to haircolor heaven. aa-ah-ahhh! courtesy of new nice 'n easy colorblend foam. permanent, dimensional color, now in a delightful foam! just three shakes, foam it, love it! simply saturate hair root to tip, front to back. with tones and highlights. it's foamtastic! home haircolor, make room for foam haircolor! new nice 'n easy colorblend foam. your right color.

we're with you when you're saving for your dreams. [ woman ] when you want a bank that travels with you. with you when you're ready for the next move. [ male announcer ] now that wells fargo and wachovia have come together, what's in it for you? unprecedented streth, the stability of the leading community bank in thnation and wit12,000 atms andousands of branches, we're with you in more ways and places than ever before. with you when you want the most from your bank. [ male announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far.

>> shepard: breaking news continuing coverage from reactor 4 at the fukushima nuclear plant. i have been telling you that this fire has either reignited or they now admit has been burning ever since yesterday. we're not quite sure what it is that they are saying. but we do know there is a fire burning and the important thing is that these are spent fuel rods. not inside a larger containment zone for lack of a better phrase, not as well protected as the other three because that reactor was off line. these fuel rods were basically in a pool to keep them cool. but for the pool to keep them coolppnow the question is if it releases radioactive material that tim trevan was mentioning a moment ago, where does it go? there are two sets of prevailing winds one way down by the surface and one up in the air. if the surface winds aren't too bad it will go way up high and spread away.

we will get to meteorologist shae ryan. a storm is on the way. they are anticipating snow. tell us about lower level winds and upper level winds. >> the lower level winds are affected by things like high and low pressure and like you were talking about the frontal system will affect the winds. right now this hasn't updated yet but winds in sendai are coming out of the northeast at about 9 miles per hour. so that is bringing any debris back in land. the same deal for fukushima and also for tokyo. winds are coming from the north to northeast. again, that's going to bring that air flow right back on to land. we were experiencing some offshore winds earlier in the day. but, again, as shepard was talking about, if you move into the upper levels of the atmosphere and the winds are fairly light when they are about 10 miles per hour. if that debris goes up, it gets picked up by the prevailing winds, which in japan are moving from west to east. so that carries it out into the pacific ocean. and you can see today during the day, again, 13 hours ahead, so

throughout the day, winds are inly gngo b cinfr thorwe. anth a gngoe pki se speed. that gng to lpo bng debri o the coast. but we are goi to see ecipitio which brings in anotr ctor,ebris doe collect on to that msturend comes back down theurface. sohere is a coupleactors involved, shep. >> shepard: shae ryan live in the fox extreme weather center. thanks. i want to make this perfectly clear for our viewers. we are in a developing situation with a fire that has begun without a lot of information. we know what the possibilities are. but we can't yet find out from officials or tepco, which is the power company which owns the plant, exactly what has happened. what we do know is there is a fire. what we don't know is are they able to put it out? and is it in any way releasing radioactive material. that's what we are working to find out. we will the moment they release that information. we're anticipating news conferences and breaking news throughout this hour. i'm shepard smith live in tokyo.

continuing coverage of breaking news on "the fox report" right after this.

>>herd: brking ns w, and 're continuing to follow breaking developments to the north of us here in tokyo. up at the fukushima nuclear powe ant whereeactor number is said to have a fire iide on the northeast corner of a containment pool, which could potentially be very dangerous for there are uranium fuel rods there and there is concern that it could leak nuclear material into the air. if that happens, the situation could get dramatically worse. we do not yet know that that has happened. we are waiting for more from authorities. we will bring it to you the moment we have it. five days after now this powerful earthquake triggered the tsunami that put the nuclear crisis here in japan.

some folks suspect that the sf tnment ne e still face. no social networking sites on social networking sites japanese users are posting thoughts such as this and i quote here. don't believe government reassurances that radiation levels are safe. quote, there is still a great deal of confusion regarding how serious this is. and that's the truth. and the japanese government are down playing this and being very selective with information. that we can't confirm but it is certainly one of the opinions going on now. there are new questions tonight about the company that operates the now unstable nuclear plant in fukushima. the tokyo electric power company or tepco of which i have been speaking reportedly waited hours to inform the government about one of the most recent explosions at that very plant. earlier today, in the united states, on "studio b" i spoke with the "wall street journal" assistant managing editor john bussey. he told me that company has a long history of problems. in fact, they stretch back to the 1970's.

>> there were instances basically of falsified safety data. this emerged over the years, over the decades. several executives had to resign. the company took a hit for it. it also has had other instances where an earthquake damaged a major facility and said, look, a very small amount of radiation leaked. later it was determined that a lot of radiation leaked. that it had not properly annualized the seismology in the area and didn't expect as serious an earthquake to happen. >> shepard: bussey went on to explain that we got a similar explanation from the company on friday. but he suggested that some of the communication issues may be understandable. >> i think the government is going to come down pretty hard on tepco for not telling them more quickly what happened. i think to a certain extent what's happening here is that events are cascading so quickly at this multireactor facility that sometimes the government and tepco don't fully understand what's going on. and i think that that has officials here in the u.s. quite concerned.

>> shepard: and they are not the only ones frankly. today the leader of the united nations nuclear watchdog urged japan to provide better information about exactly what's happening at that power plant. gordon chang joins us now a journalist and author of "nuclear showdown" on the line with us. agency press or afp has just reported that tokyo electric power company now says that this fire is under control. well, it's wednesday now japan. on tuesday afternoon when a similar fire happened, in almost exactly the same place, they said almost exactly the same thing. and now the next day they are saying that that fire not reignited but was never fully extinguish requested. gordon, i guess i'm asking for assessment with without all the information available because, quite frankly it's all quite confusing. they are saying now it's under control. what do you make of this company's history and what it might tell us about the present? >> certainly the history is not good as we just heard, especially in 2007 when they had

a serious accident after an earthquake in july. clearly the company was not forth coming, even after the long history it had with the japanese government. and certainly right now, we're dealing with the same thing. incomplete information. what is really distressing is the pattern ofves. sie tuayweavad the jorxpsis a t fis one fire that has continued for a long period of time. depending how you look at it. really, the operators of this plant do not have the situation under control and clearly don't have the ability to do so because it is just continuing. >> shepard: yeah. i want to add one thing in here just for context. earlier -- well, earlier today united states time, just a few hours ago, a reporter for the bbc reported on bbc and through twitter that there had been an explosion at reactor number 4. officials would not comment on it. tepco did not mention it. the government did not respond to this.

this it was not picked up in other places widely respected reporter who said there had been an explosion. now the company is saying not that there has been another explosion but that the fire continued from yesterday, the same fire that they said was out yesterday. so if you are one of the japanese people by the tens, even hundreds of thousands who are wondering what it is that's going on up there, what might be your advice to those people. >> well, i think probably evacuating the area would be the most important thing. for the first two days, there was really -- wasn't evacuation but clearly not 6 a big -- not of a big enough area. earlier stage distributing iodine which is useful for getting radioactivity out of the thyroid. so, clearly the government has been moving slowly here. now i can sort of understand it because it's had to deal with multiple crises. but for the japanese people themselves, i think that because of the slow reaction of the company and of the government, we're going to have lives lost.

>> shepard: gordon chang on the line with us with context and perspective for us. gordon, thanks so much. again, repeating the latest headline. tepco the tokyo electric power company and the federal government here report that the fire at reactor number 4 is now, quote, under control, unquote. what that means, we can't put in any more context. i can tell you this. a fox urgent for you now. we have just gotten word of new information regarding the reactor number 2. you'll remember there was an explosion and fire there as well. our correspondent adam housley on scene here in japan with new information that he has just confirmed. adam, what do you know? >> yes, shepard, a bulletin came out just moments ago, in fact, came out from tepco and then eventually nhk the japanese news agency has confirmed it. another news agency here, they are saying fuel rod damage at the reactor number 2 at fukushima. that is very similar to what happened at fukushima 4. we know what has happened over the last day with the fires and the explosions. that means the potential at

fukushima 2 is also very much possible, shepard. it's, again, fuel rod damage at fukushima 2. at the same time, if there is a glimmer of good news, nhk, the same agency that's put out this bulletin about the fuel rod damage at 2 says there is no longer flames visible on their cameras at fukushima 2: second reactor has significant fuel rod damage. >> shepard: yeah, in facts the word from the official japanese news agency is that fuel rods damage at fukushima's reactor number 2 is estimated at 70%, 33%. again, that's from the tokyo electric power company. so it's very hard to put all of this into terms which any of us might fully understand. suffice it to say that we have a serious situation on our hands here. they believe that the fire is out at reactor number 4. we understand now that there is damage at number 2 in the fuel rods. and all of this means that the possibility of radiation release and significant damage to the

environment and to the people is possible. now, the evacuation zones that have been put into place, the united states agency, which handles similar situations or the possibility thereof in the united states has now come out with a report just moments ago that it agrees with the evacuation zones that's me h j , otng ee,he is agemt hatatr. ♪ or the windy city. and we're certainly no one's emerald city. we're the motor city. ♪ and this is what we do. ♪ now, well-qualified lessees can lease the 2011 chrysler 200 touring for just $199 a month.

[ male announcer ] here they come. all the new tech products you need. and they're all looking for the same thing. ♪ the one place that makes technology easy. staples. with highly-trained tech experts and expanded tech centers, staples makes finding the rig technology just the way you want it. easy easy to buy. easy to fix. easy to save. staples. that was easy.

the one time of year red lobster creates so many irresistible ways to treat yourself to lobster. like our new lobster-and-shrimp trio with a parmesan lobster bake, our decadent lobster lover's dream with both sweet maine and buttery rock lobster tails and eleven more choices, each served with a salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. come celebrate lobsterfest right now at red lobster. with the velocity of a 1-ghz dual core processor, 3-d graphics engine, gyroscope, and a widescreen hd display. grab it and it grabs you. only at verizon.

it's personal. i have diabetes. so i'm proud to manufacture the accu-chek aviva meters and test strips here in the usa. and now we put a prescription discount card in every box so you'll pay no more than $15 on tt strips, which is a true american value foreople with dbetes likee. [ male announcer ] accu-chek aviva. born in the usa.

>> shepard: continuing coverage of breaking news on fox news channel live from tokyo this wednesday morning. yesterday, tuesday here in japan, there was a fire at the fukushima reactor number 4. that did release, according to local authorities and the power company which owns it, radiation into the air. it was initially ten times higher than what's normal. after a few hours it subsided. today, there is yet another fire. in fact, they say it is burning because yesterday's was not ever fully extinguished. we don't have new radiation readings from that spot. we are hoping for those in the next few minutes. when we get them, we will bring them to you. 1/10th of all experts end up here in japan. major economic problems here can become major problems back in the united states. japan's economy tuesday. stocks 300 points down federal

holding steady it's record low target on a key interest rate. the dow ended the day down 138. the nasdaq off 34. the s&p off 15. lori from the fox business network is live with us in new york city. lori, the market originally tumbled in new york. down some hundred points after the open after the any kay over here had plunged what does this mean for the global market. >> great question, shep. here in the u.s. stocks sold off because japan, well, they are one of our strongest and most lucrative trading partners. japanese people really like our stuff and they like our stuff. you are covering the breaking news at the fukushima. what company, g.e. had a significant role designing some of those reactors and supplying them. g.e. shares tanked today down 3%. look for more pressure on this breaking news in tomorrow's u.s. session. electronics shares sold off.

travel shares. tokyo disney has been closed since the crisis. the highest strockest market for high end retail so shares of coach here sold off, shep. >> shepard: lori, you know, as bad as it might be in the united states, is the stock market here in japan has crashed. i mean hundreds of billions of paper dollars lost? >> exactly. the benchmark for japanese stocks similar to our dow jones industrial average. down 17% over the last two trading sessions. future which give us sentiment that's the following trading session are showing a slight improvement but any kay future are still down 1%. markets hate uncertainty and until this nuclear crisis is shorted -- sorted out. until we understand the threat to human life you are going to expect more market volatility. >> shepard: the markets open here in about, what, 22 minutes

or so. and as that happens we have updates throughout prime time in the united states. dr. steven garner is with us now. friend of program, radiology at new new york's methodist hospital. he was head of the disaster committee at saint vincent's hospital which was the closest one to ground zero during the attacks of 9/11. an advisor at the time to mayor rudy giuliani. dr. garnerrer we are looking at a situation which is very difficult for all of us to understand in large put but not fully because we don't have all of the information. what we know is there has been a fire and there are spent fuel rods there that there may not be enough water around them and there are concerns about radiation release. >> shep, we are talking about a release to the top of the plant that could also release through the bottom of the plant that water an spread out that way. a lot of these heavy duty radioactive materials are heavier than air. spread quickly get a rapid rise and decrease. should there be an explosion that would spread this down

tremendously. unorwe are talking about things umck f or 00yet could make it permanently uninhabitable. >> shepard: i didn't mean to interrupt. it's a heck of a delay, dr. garnerrer. i did want to say that authorities here are continuously saying that they don't believe there is an enormous risk of an explosion because of this extra ntainment dome, for instance, that wasn't around the last time we had one of these situations about 25 years ago. it's their belief that there won't be a massive explosion. with that said, it was their belief that a tsunami would not cause the damage which we have seen here today. it's the thinking of many of the experts that we are really in uncharted territory. if, in fact, there is an explosion, you are talking about in the air. in the water. in the ground and a completely contaminated zone? >> yeah. you are talking about to 300 miles. you are looking at what happened at hiroshima. you are talking about something that would be more significant than that.

what's also amazing, you are here in tokyo that there are elevated levels that you are getting a month's worth of level in one day. the radiation level every 200 meters they drop by 50%. if you are getting high levels 200 miles. then something doesn't jive. it sounds like you are not getting the accurate levels because it wouldn't go to that high a level it would drop, you know, 200 meters by 50% every 200 meters. you are talking about much higher level at the reactor site. >> shepard: dr. steven garner. dr. garner great to hear from you. the best to you and your family. raised levels of radiation in tokyo, that was a report from two days ago. they tell us that they are monitoring radiation levels here. that they are slightly above normal. but not in any way harmful to people. of course, some people are concerned about that. that's the reason a lot of people have left the country and the reason people are hoarding

products. we were in a 7/11 store overnight. half the shelves are empty. water bottles, only allowed to get one bottle of water at a time in some store. not rationing but each store trying to take care as many as they can. france's nuclear safety authority ranking the crisis at fukushima plant a level 6. a serious accident. on the so-called international nuclear and radiological scale event to. put this in noah a little context. it ranks it on a levels of 1 to 7, right? and originally this was thought to be at a level about 4. so a little above half in the grand scheme of things. now it has it as a 6. a 7 is a major disaster in which a reactor releases large amounts of radioactive material. large enough to cause widespread health and environmental damage. this is a 6. that would be a 7. officials have used that level 7 only once. that was in 1986 at an explosion in fire and chernobyl in the ukraine. for comparison the partial

meltdown in three mile island back in 1979 was a level 5. this is a 6. "the fox report's" chief correspondent jonathan hunt with perspective from our newsroom in new york. jonathan, how does this compare to, say, chernobyl, specifically? >> chern noble was the worst nuclear accident. most people this will not become that bad. chernobyl was bad because it was a huge explosion and badly built nuclear plant with effectively no containment vessels. now, at fukushima there are containment vessels, obviously, and that is why most experts say it probably won't get as bad as it was in 1986 but clearly we don't know everything that is happening at fukushima, shep. and there are still great concerns with this new report of this fire whether or not it is fully out and under control as the japanese authorities are saying. and whether there is enough containment enough around the spent nuclear fuel rods. it could yet become much worse. one u.s. think tank said it could yet become that worse

ranking number 7 on the international scale, shep. >> shepard: as chernobyl was and if you would remind us of the long-term effects of the disaster at chernobyl. >> there were according to the u.n., shep, there were 9,000 deaths related to their release of radiation. radioactive material from chernobyl. just put it much higher. they say illnesses and deaths related to that leak could have reached something like 1 million. so these are huge figures and certainly if japan has a leak anything like that, there will be many deaths and there will be much of the land that will never be inhabitable again for a very very long time, shep. >> shepard: jonathan hunt reporting live from new york city. thanks very much. at least two western nations are now shutting down nuclear plants or putting new ones on hold because of the crisis here in japan. and in the united states, som laaks y 'sim for

mir aio now, preside omaesponds. we're live at the white house on the special edition of the fox report. live from tokyo and beyond. that's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] you plant. you mow. you grow. you dream. meet the new definition of durability: the john deere select series -- a four-year limited warranty, dozens of attachments,

and endless possibilities. what will you create? learn more about the durable select series tractor at john deere.com/selectsies. ldesperate for nighttimeable heartburn relief?ractor for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. talk to your doctor about your risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures if you take multiple daily doses of nexium for a long time.

possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount. this little baby keeps track of your great driving habits, so you can save money. [sighs] amazing. it's like an extra bonus savings. [ cackling ] he's my ride home. how much can the snapshot discount save you? call or click today. is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it.

because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ >> shepard: the owner of the nuclear plant at fukushima here in japan reports that the fire that broke out at some point in the last couple of hours reactor number 4 is quote under control unquote. and that company tepco or tokyo he can trick power company reports it has damage assessments fuel rods at two other reactors at that same spot. 70% damage at reactor 1. 33% at reactor number 2. big picture, what does that mean? that there are radiation concerns. details as we get them. the reactor emergency here in japan is raising concerns about nuclear power plants back in the united states. some lawmakers are on tuesday saying it's time to put the break brakes on new projects.

today the energy secretary told congress that is not necessary. >> the american people should have full confidence that the united states has rigorous safety regulations in place to ensure their nuclear power is generated safely and responsibly. information is still coming in about the events unfolding in japan the fings administration is committed to learning from japan's experience as we work to strengthen america's nuclear industry. >> shepard: in fact, he says the lessons we learn from the crisis here in japan could end up helping make america nuclear facilities much safer than they were. mike emanuel is our man at the white house. he is there now. the big concern is the strength of the nuclear plants. in earthquake zones like california. after all, here in japan, they thought that they were fully ready. clearly they weren't. >> shep, no question. there is one in particular. diablo canyon getting a lot of attention right along the california coast. so it could face a tsunami. could face an earthquake. officials say they built it to withstand a 7.5 earthquake. and a 30-foot tsunami, still one

key house democrat says he is worried about that site and many others. take a listen. >> we cannot assume that nucas onicofucarowil beesoy ithes eraror >> shepard: mike emanuel live at the white house. two are shutting down or putting new ones on hold as we have been mentioning because of the crisis here in japan. as i mentioned and as mike just reported some lawmakers are looking at this very closely. coming up, what does all of this mean big picture as we work to establish nuclear zones around

the world? and, further, how much damage has been done to the north of us here in japan? and what to do to clean it all up as they try to save people who may still be buried alive? we'll be right back. the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

>> shepard: the stories of tragedy and devastation here in japan go on and on. but through it all, there are some stories that may bring a bit of hope to a nation struggling in the aftermath of this earthquake tsunami and nuclear disaster. just yesterday, soldiers were reportedly searching for victims in a badly damaged town right along the northeast coast of japan. we're told they heard sounds of life. but they assumed it was just a mistake. but, when they heard the same sound again, they found within a 4 month old girl covered in mud. she was cold and wet and crying

but otherwise okay. and somehow rescuers were able to track down that infant's father who had no doubt assumed the very worst. in fact, we're told when the tsunami hit, the waters swept the child right out of her mother's arms or her parents' arms i should say. trace gallagher with this story live from our west coast news hub this afternoon. trace, several people really have defied the odds here. >> because you have mile after mile of death and destruction, shep and suddenly the rescue teams find life. i want to show you this video of three elderly people trapped inside their car. they were trapped in the tsunami. the car tumbled over and over. when the water came to a stop. they had the doors jammed by debris. the rescue teams opened the doors, pulled them out alive. a 20-year-old man was also rescued where 2,000 people have died. he was under that debris for four days, pulled out suffering from hypothermia, shep.

for every story like that some got other way. >> heart breaking pictures of parents went to the local post office where their son had worked. found the post office, most of it was still standing, they walked around inside and outside. there was no sign of their son. here is the father calling out. listen. we don't have that sound. it was heart rendering though shep. they believe now four days later their son is not coming back. shep. >> shepard: trace gallagher live in los angeles. trace, thanks so much. it's been a very busy news day here in japan from the aftershocks and reactor explosions to reports of rising radiation levels and the desperate efforts to rescue crews. >> survivors picking through the debris of what's left and and it's an appalling situation. it's as bad as anything i have seen. >> shepard: and now we're waiting for the latest reports

on the confusion up to the north at the nuclear reactors. we'll have more on that for you right after this. when you pour chunky beef with country vegetable soup over it, you can do dinner. 4 minutes, around 4 bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do.™ to talk about the venture card "match my miles" challenge. they're so confident their miles are better, they'll match the miles you've eard on your airline credit card -- up to 100,000 -- on a new venture card. it's unbelievable. believe it. venture card miles are good on any airline, anytime. it's like an upgrade from this... to this. sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com today

and get up to 100,000 miles. what's in your wallet? impressive, right? goals for the future... what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the sixth leading cause of death, and affects more than 5 million americans. the alzheimer's association is taking action, and has been a part of every major advancement. but we won't rest until we have a cure. you have dreams... help the alzheimer's association protect them. act now, go to alz.org. it's personal. i have diabetes. so i'm proud to manufacture the accu-chek aviva meters and test strips here in the usa. and now we put a prescription discount card in every box so you'll pay no more than $15 on tt strips, which is a true american value

foreople with dbetes likee. [ male announcer ] accu-chek aviva. born in the usa. [ male announcer ] accu-chek aviva. ooh, the price sure doesn't. i'm tired of shopping around. [ sigh ] too bad you're not buying car insurance. like that's easy. oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates and the rates of their competitors. i saved hundreds when switching. we could use hundreds. yeah. wake up and smell the savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive.

>> shepard: updating the breaking news fox report tonight a fire at fukushima reactor number 4 to the north and east of us here in tokyo, that fire is now said by the tokyo electric power company or tepco to be under control. we do not have reports of any radiation release there. though it is the same spot where yesterday radiation levels rose after a similar fire in the exact same spot. continuing updates throughout prime time on fox news channel. well, the president today responded to concerns over the nuclear plants in the united states today. telling kdka television and i quote nuclear plants are designed to withstand certain levels of earthquakes. somethingg imthe kds of enapn is t fs